Table 2.

Heuristics and biases discussed in the text are presented alongside strategies for overcoming the pitfalls inherent to each.

Heuristic	Strategies to overcome systemic errors	Reference
Representativeness	Compare disease with prototypes of the condition; be suspicious when there is not a good match	25
	Be aware of relevant prevalence data	25,80
	Incorporate discussion of common versus variant cases into educational practices
Availability	Seek base rate of a diagnosis
	Be aware of external influences in diagnostic process	25
Premature closure	Use tests or other exercises to refute diagnosis	25,43
	Differentiate working vs. final diagnoses	25
Anchoring	Insist on first hearing the “story” rather than someone else’s diagnosis	25,41
	Assess all key elements of the case	41
	Avoid confirmation and early closure; make point of lab tests to “prove” other leading diagnoses. “Crystal ball” exercise	43
Confirmation	Use hypothetical-deductive method to assess value and role of contemplated tests
	Try to disprove your diagnosis, consider conditions of higher prevalence	25,43
	Stick to institutional protocols or standard methods when applicable	36
	Be aware of affective, ethical and social influences
	Reaffirm role of intensivist as independent consultant; avoid influence of referring physicians
Unpacking or support theory	Be aware that alternate descriptions of the same situation may elicit different estimates of likelihood.	33
	Unpack broad categories and compare alternatives at similar levels of specificity
Satisficing	Perform secondary searches once it appears the answer is at hand.
	Complete standard protocols where applicable.	25
Omission or status quo bias	Think of what others would do. Consider existing clinical evidence.	37
	Trust intuition: if you thought of it, you should probably do it	25
	Try to approach each case as a clean slate, as in de-anchoring